Orlando Philharmonic has unique vision for 'La Traviata'

For "La Traviata," the final production of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's season, the creative team decided to try something new.

Oh, all the elements that have made the opera beloved to generations of fans will be intact: Verdi's emotional music, the tragic love story between Violetta and Alfredo, the romantic Paris backdrop. The Orlando Phil will have more than 60 musicians and a chorus of 40 to make sure the score is given its due.

But the production, the last under the baton of outgoing music director Christopher Wilkins, will set the doomed lovers' tale in the 1920s, rather than the customary 1700s. And the innovative staging used by the Phil means much of the action will be closer than ever to the audience.

"'La Traviata' is familiar to everyone, but they won't have seen it like this," says Bobbie Demme-San Filippo, the production designer. "What happens here isn't going to happen anyplace else."

Part of that is because of the Philharmonic's philosophy of presenting the orchestra onstage with the singers. For "La Traviata," a grand staircase will curve around the back of the stage, with the musicians nestled within its arc.

"La Traviata" — which means "the fallen woman" in Italian, is based on the play "La dame aux Camélias (The Lady of the Camellias)," adapted from Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name. Violetta, a courtesan, gives up her wanton lifestyle for love when she meets Alfredo, but his scandalized father separates the couple. Also standing in the way of a fairytale ending for the two is Violetta's poor health: She is dying of tuberculosis.

If the story sounds familiar, the source material was adapted as the classic film "Camille" and the basic plot has inspired such other movies as Baz Luhrman's 2001 musical "Moulin Rouge!"

"The idea of a whore with a heart of gold is the oldest cliché of all, yet this is fresh," Wilkins says. "The tears are real, the love is palpable."

The staging presents Wilkins with a challenge. With the orchestra at the rear of the stage, he can't see the principal singers.

"I have to have eyes in the back of my head," he jokes. "Playing opera is so different than anything else. It requires flexibility to match the voices. You just have to feel it."

In the starring roles are Cuban soprano Elizabeth Caballero and American tenor Brian Jagde. Caballero has performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Musetta in "La Boheme." Jagde recently debuted with the Met, performing as Count Elemer in Richard Strauss' "Arabella."

Director Frank McClain decided to transplant the story into 1920s Paris.

"It was such a special time. After the First World War there was a sense of freedom, that anything was possible," he says. "And in retrospect that time was fleeting."

Don't expect flappers: Paris was full of elegance during that era, when great artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker and Pablo Picasso made their marks.

"It's a wonderful artistic extravaganza," Demme-San Filippo says. "It's not a caricature of the American 1920s."

Maestro Wilkins is glad his eight-year tenure with the Philharmonic will come to a close with a classic.

"I'm very pleased it's 'La Traviata,'" he says. "It occupies a very special place among traditional love stories. It's dearly beloved. It just feels great to go out with this really beautiful work."

The Orlando Philharmonic has revealed the five finalists hoping to be the orchestra's next music director. Orlando audiences will get a chance to watch them conduct at concerts throughout the 2014-15 season, executive director David Schillhammer said.

The Rolling Stones will play a concert at the newly renovated Orlando Citrus Bowl on June 12, Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed at a press conference Tuesday morning, calling the British rockers the “world's greatest rock and roll band.”

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